Exit Ray Vinopal

This rumor had been bouncing around the internet for long enough that it was hardly a rumor anymore, but Hoke has just confirmed it and now it's really not a rumor:

Hoke on Vinopal: "Ray decided to go back Youngstown. That issue's more a family issue."

Michigan loses both a two-star recruit no one expected would ever play and a guy who started half his freshman season, which says all you need to about last year's secondary. The free safety spot is manned by… uh… definitely somebody. I think we can safely assert Michigan will put eleven players on the field this fall. That's all we know. Since the depth chart by class has exactly one other body at the spot, that true freshman Minnesota decommit Tamani Carter, it's safe to say the eventual starter is kind of up in the air.

I always liked this kid. He isn't the type who is going to win awards or ever be a top draft pick. But, he is the type who could win you games and championships. I wish him the best and hope to see him come back if ever possible.

but just a couple days ago, Hoke told Angelique that the safeties were fine (sic) in his early impression, it was the cornerbacks he was worried about. Given the assumption that Hoke had knowledge of Vinopal's issues for a while now, I'd assume he made that statement about our safety depth with knowledge of Vinopal's impending departure. Looking for I guess an appearance by some of our former CB's at S in the spring game who have been practicing there all ... um... spring.

A couple weeks ago Cullen Christian mentioned in a social networking medium that he and Carvin Johnson were learning and playing the free safety position. So, there may actually be people playing at all 11 positions this fall.

I think Josh Furman and M-Rob might be names to look out for at the SS position.

I'm not too disappointed hearing the Buck is moving to FS. Coming in there were always discussions about him playing safety. I'm no expert, but lots of people who know better than I have said that he might be better suited for safety position.

Being from Youngstown myself, and wanting nothing more than to go to Michigan, I feel so bad for him as he seemed to love being at Michigan. I really wish him the best with his family and everything he does in life.

God bless Ray Vinopal but I would not call his speed "blazing". He was a solid football player and honestly, should have not been starting. He had two MAC offers. I loved the kid's grit and intensity and respect his decision to leave. Family comes first.

but I think he was the fastest guy (in a straight line) that we had in the secondary last year. He is way faster than JT Floyd, Cameron Gordon or Jordan Kovacs. And I thought his tackling was pretty good. He didn't have enough muscle but I assumed that would be significantly improved by this fall. In fact, the only person I thought who would be better at free safety on the entire roster was Woolfolk, and that was only if he was fully recovered. He will be missed, don't doubt that.

I think the disconnect with our knowledge of the roster vs. what Hoke is saying comes from the way he will deploy the safeties. I believe Hoke wants to leave his corners on an island and allow the safeties to fly to the ball to support the run defense as opposed to Robinson who wanted a free safety who had to cover a lot more open field. If we don't need a speedster at Free safety, we actually have a good amount of depth. However, we lack shutdown corners. JT Floyd is a decent football player but he needs a cushion and help over the top to cover Big Ten wideouts. Same goes for Cullen Christian.

I'm pretty sure most of the positions in the secondary are still up in the air. I think the only positions really solidified are those on the line. Ray's spot is just another to add to a list of question marks.

my point had nothing to day AT ALL with success on the field. It had everything to do with the double standard where ANY TIME someone would leave, we'd see a whole bunch of "OMG FAMILY VALUES" comments and people who assumed that kids ONLY left the program under RR, while failing to realize that kids leave UNDER EVERY COACH IN EVERY PROGRAM.

that ppl were so quick to jump on the previous regime for "running off" players like Mallet. Now don't get me wrong, I am ok that they dismissed RR (contrary to the "mental health" comments of one guy above), but I just find it stupid how the standard has completely changed.

bashing on the new staff. But they too, have lost players, no matter what the reason. People didn't seem to care about the reasons for people leaving before. They automatically seemed to pile on. It's called a double standard. Every ripped on RR for Mallet leaving, but nobody did that to Hoke for Tate leaving.

That being said, it's also a good thing, because at least Hoke won't have to work around a bunch of negative attention. That is pretty obvious.

Sort of a Jon Ames thing, if anyone remembers him. Had a solid start to his career and left school with depression issues, I think. It is a reminder that these are all just kids at a huge point in their lives. Some will exceed expectations, some won't ever become what they were hyped to be, and many will struggle with personal problems that the rest of us get to go through in relative obscurity. I hope it all works out for him.

His name is Jon Anes. He was my year at Michigan. I had a good friend on played baseball that was pretty close to Anes. It is true that he suffered from depression. He also coupled that with drinking a lot of hard liquor.